Latin America in focus

When EU member states’ foreign ministers converge on Luxembourg on 20 April, they will be asked to discuss the EU’s strategic relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. This rare debate about the region reflects an effort by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to create space in each meeting for reflection on issues that do not currently feature prominently on the news pages.

The recent start of EU talks on a new deal with Cuba and the prospect of talks on trade and political deals with Mexico and Chile provide a positive backdrop for the debate, while Venezuela’s toughening of its authoritarian regime, coupled with the oil-rich country’s dire economic condition, is likely to be one of the principal areas of concern. The main goal of the debate is to prepare the EU for a summit with the region’s leaders in June.

Following the strategic debate in March, when ministers focused on Africa, they will be asked this time to approve a plan for EU activities in the Sahel, covering some countries along the Sahara’s southern rim. A more difficult discussion is guaranteed on the burning issue on the Sahara’s northern edge, the conflict in Libya. The EU’s diplomatic service is currently working on a paper setting out how the EU might contribute to restoring some security in the country, in support of the United Nations’ peacemaking efforts.

A diplomat predicted that the military intervention in Yemen by Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Islamic state, would be on the agenda and would spur discussion about the implications of an emerging international deal on the nuclear programme of Iran, the leading power in the Shiite Muslim world. One of the principal parties to Yemen’s conflict springs from the country’s Shiite minority.